EU to Water Bottlers: H20 Won't Stop Dehydration

Companies face 2 years in prison for making claim
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 19, 2011 3:05 PM CST
EU Warns Bottled Water Companies: Water Doesn't Prevent Dehydration
Bilel Mohsni of Southend United pours a bottle of water over his head during a match on September 3, 2011 in Southend, England.   (Getty Images)

"Water prevents dehydration"? The EU is warning water companies not to make such outrageous claims. After a 3-year investigation into the effects of water, EU officials announced this week that bottled-water producers are forbidden from making the statement—and risk 2 years in prison if they do. A gathering of 21 scientists in Parma, Italy, earlier this year decided that dehydration can't be reversed by drinking water, the Telegraph reports.

Where to start with the reactions? “The euro is burning, the EU is falling apart and yet here they are ... trying to deny us the right to say what is patently true," says one British member of European parliament. Another compared it to the now-scrapped "bendy banana law," a 2008 EU ruling that banned bendy bananas; another outlawed curved cucumbers. But one British professor supports the ruling, saying dehydration is usually a clinical condition, and people can stay hydrated without drinking water. (More bottled water stories.)

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